Ronny Cox remembers when he was a struggling musician and actor in
the 1960s and his wife, Mary, was working on her doctorate in
chemistry at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. At a pub on
Capitol Hill called Mr. Henry's, Cox played folk music downstairs
while public schoolteacher Roberta Flack sang R&B upstairs. Both went
on to successful careers -- Flack as a singer and Cox as an actor.
Ronny Cox

This weekend at Trek Expo in Tulsa, Cox returns to his musical roots,
performing songs and stories from his latest compact disc in one part
of the Expo Center while, very likely, Klingons conspire in another.
It may seem an unlikely mix -- folk music and science fiction -- but
it makes sense to Cox, who captained the Enterprise in a "Star Trek:
The Next Generation" two-parter, has had a recurring role
in "Stargate SG-1" and has starred in such sci-fi feature films
as "Total Recall" and "RoboCop."

"First of all, I didn't realize what a synergy there was between folk
music fans and sci-fi fans," Cox said in a recent phone interview
from Kerrville, Texas, where he was attending that town's annual folk
music festival.

"I knew when I played here at the Kerrville Folk Festival that when
people would come up to me afterwards and want to talk about the
music, they also wanted to talk about 'Star Trek' and
about 'Stargate.' And I kept saying, what is this? And then I
realized, if you get to thinking about it, nearly all the folk music
fans are computer people. Somehow, there's such a crossover there,
and it's the same with sci-fi fans."

Cox turned down offers to appear at fan conventions until earlier
this year when a promoter in England made him an irresistible deal:
come to the convention and play your music. Trek Expo marks his first
U.S. convention appearance, but he's looking at doing more after the
overwhelming fan reaction in London.

"It was the most wonderful, attentive, with-it audience I've ever
played for. It was just amazing. It was a little intimidating in a
way, because the band guys all say normally we have to do something
to prove we're worthy, and these guys were willing participants from
the get-go," Cox said.

Cox, who jokingly says he was in nearly every movie made in the '80s,
got his big acting break in 1972's "Deliverance," which co-starred
Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight and Ned Beatty. It just missed being his
big musical break, too. During filming, director John Boorman wanted
Cox, who was hired because he was also a musician, to go to Atlanta
to record the song "Dueling Banjos" for the movie's sound track.

This being his first time in front of a camera, Cox said he was
nervous and didn't want to miss canoe practice and rehearsal time.
After pleading with Boorman and convincing the director that he would
match the playback note for note, Cox won his day in the canoe but
ultimately missed the boat on the song that would end up being a hit.

"So, did I play it? Yes. Did I match it note for note? Yes. But when
push comes to shove, is that me on the sound track? No. That cost me
a lot of money. One of the great, bright decisions I've made in my
life," Cox said with a laugh.

Since that time, Cox's acting career has far eclipsed his music
career, though he has always sought roles that would make use of both
talents. His next big film was 1976's "Bound for Glory," the biopic
about Oklahoma-born folksinger Woody Guthrie. Cox said that movie was
one of the great joys of his career, not only because he got to work
with director Hal Ashby but because Guthrie had been his early
musical inspiration.

Cox, 65, said he felt part of the Dust Bowl era growing up in
Portales, N.M., and knew all of Woody's songs, which so characterized
that period and became the fabric of Cox's musical life.

"That's really what brought me to music were Woody's songs and
especially Woody's whole concept of sharing. Woody encouraged people
to make up your own words to the music. If his words didn't
necessarily mean something to you, make up your own," he said.

"And I think in many ways that's what encouraged me as a songwriter
was ... because it's really daunting at first to think of writing
this song, this piece, where every word is supposed to mean
something, whereas Woody sort of demystified that."

As Cox kept hitting the right notes with his acting career, he was
content to leave the music mostly at home, but only because he had
two musician-sons there available for spur-of- the-moment jam
sessions.

Cox said the Tulsa concert will be a family affair for Father's Day
weekend with sons Brian and John joining him on stage and his wife
accompanying him on the trip. Musicians Matt Margucci and Travis
Parker will also perform with Cox.

"That's the biggest thrill in the world -- getting to play music with
your kids, especially, especially when they are good," he said.

Television innovator Steven Bochco's concept series "Cop Rock," a
musical police drama that aired in 1990 and "failed gloriously," Cox
said, became part of the catalyst that got him back into music.

"I loved that show so much, and when it closed, that was just when my
youngest son was leaving home. And, you know, you hear about women,
mothers, suffering from the empty nest syndrome. Well, I'm not saying
Mary didn't suffer, but I don't think she suffered nearly as much I
did. Because, when John was gone and I no longer had my guy to play
music with, I was like lost. And I had had so much fun on that show,
and I realized how much I missed the music," he said.

In fact, Cox says, he sees the music becoming more important than the
acting and hopes to play as many as 120 dates a year in the future.

"With music, there can be a profound one- on-one sharing. And that's
the opiate that brings me back to the music all the time. So, the
thing I always strive for in my shows is as personal a connection
with the audience as I can possibly get."

Very interesting article about Ronny Cox. I had no idea he performed at the Kerrville festival - I'll have to check it out next year and see if he'll be there again. Would love to see him live.

I particularly enjoyed the story about the "Dueling Banjos" theme from Deliverance. Talk about a missed opportunity. ;)

Gilder

June 21st, 2004, 06:10 PM

Thanks, Morjana. Printing it out to read later.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ronny and going to the concert this weekend during Trek Expo. His work is comparable to that of the late Harry Chapin and Texas singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen, Jr. I recommend the experience!

Ronny and his band will be here (San Antonio, TX) on September 16. It's apparently a benefit for the Woodlawn Theatre organized by the International Folk Culture Center (IFCC) at Our Lady of the Lake University. I've permission to post the website (not yet up), www.woodlawntheater.org, email for John Davis, john@ifcchouseconcerts.com, and phone number, 210-738-1291.

I'm definitely planning to support the Sept. concert, anyone want to join me?

Gilder

keshou

June 21st, 2004, 07:53 PM

I had the pleasure of meeting Ronny and going to the concert this weekend during Trek Expo. His work is comparable to that of the late Harry Chapin and Texas singer/songwriter Robert Earl Keen, Jr. I recommend the experience!

He performed at Trek Expo? Very cool. And I really like Robert Earl Keen (my brother is a HUGE fan of his).

Ronny and his band will be here (San Antonio, TX) on September 16. It's apparently a benefit for the Woodlawn Theatre organized by the International Folk Culture Center (IFCC) at Our Lady of the Lake University.
I'm definitely planning to support the Sept. concert, anyone want to join me?

Thanks for the info. :D I don't have anything planned that weekend so maybe. I'm definitely going to keep checking on next year's Kerrville music festival as I'd like to go to that. I looked at the website and they really pull in a wide variety of performers.

Glad you got to see Ronny at Tulsa - sounds like he enjoys entertaining the scifi crowd!

**

Shipperahoy

June 21st, 2004, 08:48 PM

I had the opportunity to see him play at a local club and he's great. It's not really my type of music but I was curious and he's got some pipes.